Fire Emblem: Awakening Review

Review was originally written in Early March 2013

It’s very rare to find a game where you can’t stop playing just because you want more and more.

The Fire Emblem series is a strategy RPG that has been around since the original Nintendo system in Japan and still continues to date in its latest installment. However out of the 13 games of the series, only 6 have been released internationally. Over time the series has been growing popular internationally. With the release of Awakening, Nintendo actually had problems shipping the first day of release in the States due to the overwhelming amount of pre-orders to be filled. This caused most copies of the game to be delayed for a few days before owners could play the new title.

You begin the game by creating your own character who wakes up in field with amnesia. You are taken in by Chrom, the prince of the fictional Halidom Ylisse and leader of the Shepherds. He lets you join the Shepherds, a group of fighters sworn to protect the innocent after you prove to be a skilled tactician. The plot follows Chrom, yourself, and the Shepherds as they go through many battle against invading kingdoms and mysterious creatures that have risen from the ground known as Risen. Every battle will bring the characters in your army closer as you can recruit certain units on and off the battlefield, making your numbers grow. The plot goes over 30+ chapters as characters go through war, betrayal, love, time travel, and ancient dragons rising to power.

Gameplay happens on a number of different maps, divided into a grid structure, each unit taking one space. On a player’s turn, the player can tell each individual unit on where to move and if to attack enemy units or to support fellow soldiers. When a player moves all their units or decide to do nothing more, the enemy takes its turn and follows suit. Characters wield swords, axes, bows, lances, magic, staffs, dragons, and many other forms of combat. Certain weapons have an advantage over one another. Sword beats ax, ax beats lance, and lance beats sword like rock, paper, scissors. Each unit has different advantages and disadvantages. This puts the strategy in the game as the player must decide who will go into battle and where they will move. 

One of the big assets of combat is having two characters positioned next to each other, as they can boost each others attacks and defenses in battle. Doing so repetitively will increase the chance of them helping as well as the characters growing relationships with one another. If two characters really work together well, they can even become married. And through a plot device involving time travel, that couple’s child can also join forces and fight besides them.

Fire Emblem Awakening has only one flaw and that the difficulty curve goes up very fast. The first five chapters may seem easy but the enemies get stronger and stronger. And if you lose a unit in battle, they are dead for the rest of the game and can never return. Unless you choose to play on the new Casual setting which lets units come back after said battle. 

Overall Fire Emblem: Awakening is possibly the best RPG the 3DS has ever had at the time. Players will find themselves one moment planning attacks, to buying new upgrades and weapons, and then playing match maker. The player feels for all the characters, cheering them on in victory to mourning the loss of a friend. And then if players want more they can purchases additional maps to play through Nintendo’s eShop. Fire Emblem: Awakening is a must for any 3DS owner.

5/5 Stars

Additional Notes Since Original Review:

The game is definitely still fun and something I often keep going back to on my 3DS. I finally got to try out the multiplayer aspect, which is playing with one friend with the game locally and taking your units together to pair up to fight a series of enemies. While it is disappointing not to play on maps against each other (but you could say that's what the Street Pass of others teams). However just like the game, the difficulty curve ramps up very quickly in the challenges. On a side note, the difficulty settings in Fire Emblem get VERY ridiculous hard, and are there for those who are dedicated to the game. Still a must buy in my opinion.